While you could indeed shoot gas tanks and blow up cars and trucks in Sniper Elite V2, that X-Ray camera effect wasn’t used and while optional to some missions, you didn’t have to take out some rides if you didn’t want to. Granted, this made the game much harder if you had more Nazis to mow down, but some players relished that more unrealistic challenge. Anyway, as you can see above, no engine block or gas tank is safe in this installment. Rebellion’s Sniper Elite III, coming on from 505 Games in July, is bringing the pain with more not for the kiddies at all WWII action in an even bigger (and some would say *ouch!* ballsier) manner than before to PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, XBOX One and most likely PC down the road a piece. War is Hell, indeed…
So, these past few weeks are turning out to be full of nice surprises on the indie game scene, or perhaps I’m finally starting to see new games that grab my attention because they stand out from the way too crowded marketplace that seems to get new titles on a daily basis vying for attention. This time, it’s tinyBuild Games‘ upcoming digital-only release Fearless Fantasy, a wonderful-looking turn-based RPG with gesture-based combat, rich, colorful graphics and actual (as in GOOD) humor in the writing. Sure, my plate is full and my backlog is mighty, but as soon as saw that video above, those screenshots below and the GIFs , I made room to give this one a shot once a preview code arrives.
As for those GIFs, they’re below the jump along with a bit of amusing press release stuff to peruse along with some lovely character images. If you didn’t watch that video above, prepare your eyeballs for a color blast assault… Continue reading →
Some of what it says on the PlayStation YouTube page:
inspired by such classics as Rygar, Contra, Bionic Commando, Blaster Master, and, of course, Metroid. But it also gives you power over glitches like those found in classic games, allowing you to scramble enemies, corrupt environments, and enter hidden areas.
Hmmmm… Okay, I’m IN. PC, PlayStation 4 and Vita bound soon, Axiom Verge may look like yet another of those endless numbers of retro homage games that crowd the indie space these days, but everything I just saw about in in that trailer above set my nostalgia meter into the red zone where it’ll be stuck until I finally play the game proper.
To me, it looks spectacular, capturing that old-school 8-bit vibe through its sprite and tile-based visuals while adding a few wicked visual effects you probably didn’t see back then on home consoles. Even better, it’s being made by ONE guy, Tom Happ, who has worked on a number of “triple-A” games for both PC and consoles (End of Nations, Tiger Woods, and NFL Street, to name a few), meaning he knows what he’s doing (but I’ll bet his wife thinks he’s crazy sometimes for tacking such a killer project like this!).
Even more awesome, in addition to the screenshots above featuring his great pixel art, Happ has also made some excellent GIFs of the game in motion so you can see all that hard work he’s doing. The screens are above and the GIFs below the jump because they’re of varying sizes. Enjoy! Expect updates as more news comes in and if you’re a fan of this style of game, you KNOW you need to get this on something its coming to. I’m all over this one, but I know the folks who hate having their butts handed to them by digitized alien scum will be pooh-poohing this before they even pick up a controller. It’s their loss, of course… Continue reading →
So, DAYLIGHT is here for your PC or PlayStation 4 from Atlus and developer Zombie Studios, but you should play it in the dark for best results. Granted, this short, scary as hell romp through a few creepy locations isn’t the deepest game on the planet, but it delivers the scares thanks to maps that are procedurally generated, meaning it’s a new experience each time you dive in. Now, I’m not a fan of the whole Slenderman thing (it’s so laaaaaaaaame and not a scary myth at all to me!), but this more ghostly take on that fad works better on a few fronts while delivering the jump scares horror fans crave. It’s too bad this wasn’t also made for the Vita, as I’d be playing it now and jumping out of a seat somewhere in public squealing like a bag of hungry mice. Eeeeeek!
I’m sure FromSoftware knows this already, but with Dark Souls and now Dark Souls II, they’ve gone and made a game that’s too hard for those “gamers” who can’t deal with the level of challenge, so yes indeed, hackers and cheaters will be rampant. Granted, once you buy a game you’re more or less free to do with it what you desire, but what’s the point in playing a game that’s supposed to be difficult if you hack up the ability to one-shot anything that comes at you, maybe survive a fall that’s SUPPOSED to kill you (to teach you a lesson in paying attention to the environment) and so forth and so on? I don’t mind messing with a game after I’ve completed it a few times (as I’ve played Diablo II offline solo with a bunch of crazy mods that made my characters invincible killing machines or I’ve changed up the gameplay in that gem to make it much more challenging). But I just don’t get the automatic urge to cheat one’s way through a game and claim “victory” when no actual hard work was done outside of dinking around with the game code to make it work in a way it wasn’t intended to.
Ah well, it’s not my problem, so I’ll just let it rest. Still, I’d love to see a developer cook up a game that can’t easily be cracked apart or at the very least, identifies cheaters with a nice big flashing neon sign so people who want to play legit can do so in peace. Of course, cheating is rampant in many console games as well, but in some cases, those people can be easier to avoid if one decides to stay the heck offline or just play with people you know where applicable…
Well, SOME of you are already downloading or playing this as we speak (wait, we’re back on speaking terms? Okay, fine!), but to the rest of you holdouts with decent gaming rigs to run this who are on the fence, you need a kick in the pants (well, a light one, as I don’t want to get on your bad side again). Just BUY it and prepare for a super tough but rewarding game experience. A bit to a great deal challenging for new players, but a total corker if you love games that test you and don’t even bother to hold your hand as you explore at will.
Dark Souls II doesn’t tell you much other than “here you are, find out what to do on your own” and to some, it will be the ultimate in “PAY ATTENTION!” game experiences because once you take your eyes and ears off the ball, something is going to come out the darkness swinging something heavy and dull or heavy and sharp and your poor avatar gets knocked off, down or into something that kills it. Oops. You’ll learn to appreciate dying here whether or not you play the game with other live players dropping in to invade your game.
Decisions, decisions with this week’s Humble Weekly Sale featuring games picked out be the folks at TSG TV! Do you pay what you want for five classic indie games, jump up to six bucks or more for an additional six games or try your luck and pay ten or more for an even baker’s dozen? Did I mention you also get soundtracks for a bunch of these games too? Even better, if you decide to empty your wallet and go for a $40 or $100 purchase, you get some really sweet swag sent your way.
Oh, I can’t help you here at all, folks… other than to say a percentage of what you pay goes to charity (this time, it’s Direct Relief) and you’ll get some really great games here to dive into.
When we last left DreadOut, this Indonesian-made horror game was scaring the pants off of a few folks with YouTube channels who make a living pretending to be scared or perhaps being actually scared but somehow make it look canned when they jump and squeal in their seats like clubbed dog toys. Anyway, that video above is the latest “update” for the game just to let you know it’s coming out on Steam in May. Below is the previous teaser that shows and tells you what you’re in for next month: good old school horror in the Fatal Frame manner.
Digital Happiness will certainly bring some Digital Scariness to horror game fans with this one, as the demo from last year certainly had its moments. Well, prepare to sit in the dark and keep looking behind you every few minutes soon enough…
Holy cats. AGAIN. A dozen Steam digital games in a bunch of genres for a mere five bucks with part of the proceeds going to charity? Crazy! My own backlog and need to clear out some hard drive space means I’m eyeballing a few games in my backlog and considering deleting them temporarily just to snap up this set of titles. Granted, I’m not a big RTS fan, so those historical sims may not be touched unless I have a LOT of free time and want to do some supplemental reading. On the other hand, most everything else here floats my boat to some extent and saving $110 is always a good thing. Hmmm… time for a coin flip (again!)…
Anyway, if your own eyeballs have grown to saucer size when you clicked on that link above you know what to do, right? Also check out the other bundles on the site PLUS those awesome store deals for up to 80% off a really nice bunch of games in a few genres. I may have a nice surprise for two lucky readers later this week, so stick around for an update…
Nice. Neocore Games has released four new screens from The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II and added some new areas to the closed beta (which is automatically updating via Steam as I type). Excellent.
I was wondering what that other game was Steam was adding content to as I knew The Wolf Among Us was going to drop in Chapter Three as soon as I logged on. Of course, by the time I got to the email from Neocore announcing the beta update, it was about 70% done and I realized that’s what was up. Yeah, I think sideways from time to time, what of it? Anyway, May 22, 2014 is the new release date for VHII. Remember, you can pre-order the game directly from the developer or through Steam. I’ll have an updated hands-on shortly (most likely after the weekend)…
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